Road House Blues

A weird and sad bit of news to report. Patrick Swayze was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It is a very deadly form of the disease and only five percent of those diagnosed live more than five years. Many die within weeks.

Jeff Healey passed away on Sunday at the age of 41 after a lifelong battle with cancer. Retinal cancer stole Healey’s eyesight at the age of one, and his most recent illness included tumors on his lungs and leg.

The weird part: both men were in the movie Road House in 1989. Swayze as a bouncer-for-hire who cleans up rough barrooms, Healey as a bar singer. My favorite line in the movie comes from Sam Elliot, “I’ll get all the sleep I need when I’m dead.”

Healey had his biggest hit with “Angel Eyes” while Swayze, already a star since his Dirty Dancing role, went on to super-stardom in Ghost. My favorite bit of The Swayze was his dance-off against Chris Farley on SNL. Best wishes.